Apparatus for forming metal tape into tubular conductors



May 10, 1949; v

A. LOGAN APPARATUS FOR FORMING METAL TAPE INTO TUBULAR CONDUCTORS Filed Nov. 23, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 & //VVEN7'0 A. Loan/v 5y 1..." ,c. A 4

' HTTOENEY May 10, 1949. LOGAN 2,469,565

A. APPARATUS FOR FORMING METAL TAPE INTO TUBULAR CONDUCTORS Filed Nov. 23, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 HTTO/PNEY May 10, 1949.

Filed Nov. 23, 1943 APPARATUS Foil FORMING METAL TAPE A LOGAN 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 w 5 l m #{f IITIIIQ m W/ a e m k Q mil.

BYJAW AM ATTORNEY PatentedMay 10, 1949 a APPARATUS FOR FORMING METAL TAPE INTO TUBULAR CONDUCTORS Alexander um, Dundalk, Md., asaighorto Weatern Electric Company, Incorporated, New York,- 1 N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 23, 1943, Serial No. 511,496

aciaims. 1

This invention relates to article forming apv paratus and more particularly to an apparatus for forming a flexible co-axial cable.

It is an object of the present invention to pro-. vide a simple apparatus for rapidly and accurate- 1y forming an article.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a central core member, on which insulating discs have been placed at spaced intervals, is fed between two supply pads of copper tape from which tape is withdrawn at a predetermined rate proportional to the rate of movement of the core and attached insulators. As the copper tape is withdrawn from the pad, it is passed through forming dies to form it to a concavo-convex cross section and is then directed to a crimping unit, which has crimping dies movable relative to the tapes to crimp the tapes at spaced intervals and to travel with the tapes during the crimping action. As the crimped tapes move out of the crimping ap ratus, they are directed to taping rolls, which guide them into association with the washers on the central core, after which binding layers of metallic tape are wrapped around the two crimped tapes. which, in the finished cable, will constitute the shell conductor and the completed cable is then passed over a driving capstan to any suitable takeup or receiving devices.

A complete understanding of the invention may be had from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. wherein Fig. 1 is a plan view of the apparatus embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, parts being broken away to conserve space;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the tape crimping portion of the apparatus;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the completed cable, partially in section, and showing the relative positions of the tapes which form the shell or outer conductor of the cable, as well as the binding 4 Fig.8 is a detailed viewin perspective of one of the crimping die elements.

In the drawings, particular reference being had to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown a suitable framework it, which supports the various parts of the apparatus, the details of construction of which are not essential to an understanding of the invention, it being suflicient to note-that the frame supports a gear. box ii, a crimping die assembly II, a tape guiding assembly IS, a guide roller support II, a bearing support I! for a taping head assembly it, and other suitably positioned mechanisms to be described hereinafter. Suitably mounted beneath the framework I 0' is a driving motor II, which drives a main shaft l8 through a sprocket and chain arrangement I9. The main shaft I! has a plurality of sprockets 20, 2i and 22 thereon for driving chains 24, and 28, respectively. The chain 24 is adapted to drive the gears in the gear box ii, the chain 25 is adapted to transmit motion to the crimping die assembly l2 and the chain 28 is adapted to drive a gear reducer 21, which, through a chain 28, drives the taping head assembly It. In addition to driving the various sprockets just described, the main drive shaft i8 drives suitable gearing in a gear box 29. which, in turn, drives a takeup capstan 30.

Mounted upon the frame I0 is a bracket lli having suitably positioned thereon a pair of reels or pads ll-ll, on each of which there is wound a supply of metal tape 42, preferably made of copper, which is to be formed, in the present apparatus, into concavo-convex tube halves, which, in the ultimate product, will form the outer conductor of a co-axial cable. The tapes or ribbons l2 withdrawn from the pads ll are directed past the guide rollers 43-43 to forming dies 44- mounted upon the bracket ill.

Both of the forming dies 44 are of exactly the same construction and gradually bend the flat tape to a semi-circular cross-sectional shape. These dies may be of any suitable construction and, therefore, are not shown in detail. The tapes or ribbons 42 are drawn through the form- 5 ing dies 44 by driven rollers "-45 and cooperating idler rollers 46-46, which are suitably pressed against the driven rollers 45. The power for driving the rollers 45 is transmitted to them through the gear box ii and the speed of operation of the driven rollers 45 is synchronized with the feeding between the forming dies 44 and sets of rollers "-46 of a core unit 41 comprising a relatively heavy copper wire 48 having spacers or discs "-4! of insulating material attached thereto. These insulators or discs 49 are each provided 3 withaslotltasshowninl'igJdntowhichtho wire 48 has been forced, wher by the insulators II will be attached to the wire 48 at regularly spaced intervals and will be carried along with the wire. The rate of feed of the core unit 4'! depends on the speed of the takeup capstan SI and the spacing of the insulators 4t thereon is controlled with a high degree of accuracy by mechanism not shown and the operation of the apparatus comprising the present invention is synchronized with the rate of operation of the mechanism which applies the discs or insulators 49 to the central conductor or wire 48. Any suitable mechanism may be provided for attachins the insulators to the wire and, therefore, no specific disclosure of such mechanism is deemed necessary herein. It should be noted that the speed of the feeding of the tapes or ribbons 42 is synchronized with the movement of the core unit 41, but the speed of forward advance of the tapes 42 in the area of the dies 44 is slightly faster than the speed of advance of the core unit since the tapes will be crimped in the crimping die assembly I2, as will be described hereinafter, to,

in elIect, shorten the tapes.

In the crimping die assembly I2, there is provided, as shown most clearly in Figs. 3, 6, 7 and 8, a pair of channel members 56 and 51 having set into the ends of them a pair of bearing plates 58 and 59, in which a cam shaft 60 is suitably Journalled. The shaft 50 has a sprocket 6| on its right end (Figs. 3 and 7) for engagement by the chain 26, whereby rotation is imparted to the shaft 60 and, consequently, to a cam drum 42 fixed on the shaft and having a pair of cam grooves 83 and 64 formed in it for receiving cam rollers or pins 65 and 66, which are, in turn, mounted upon a slldable support plate 81 and a stud shaft 68, respectively. The stud shaft 48 is fixed to a bell crank lever 69 (Figs. 3 and 7) extending downwardly therefrom to support the cam roller 66 and extending upwardly therefrom to enter a slot II! in a corresponding bell crank lever II. The bell crank levers 69 and II are pivotally mounted at 12 and 13, respectively, on bearing plates I4 and I5, respectively, which are, in turn, mounted upon the upper flanges of the channel members 51 and 55,.respectively.

At their left ends, as viewed in Fig. 3, the bell crank levers B9 and II carry camming rollers I8 and II, respectively, which are freely rotatable within forked portions of the ends of the bell crank levers and which engage the outer surfaces of a pair of similarly formed crimping dies ll and 19, respectively. The crimping dies II and '18, as mentioned, are of the same construction and'the crimping die I8, which is shown in perspective in Fig. 8, comprises a block 85 having flanges 86 and 81 formed thereon which extend into ways 88 and 89 extending from the upper surface of the slldable support plate 61. While the block 85 may be formed from a plurality of interconnected parts, it has, for the sake of simplicity, been shown as a single block of metal having a concave forming die portion cut therein and a convex forming die 90 attached thereto. The concave forming die, designated 9i, has a ridge 92 formed thereon for cooperation with a groove 93 formed on the convex forming die 80 of the crimping die 19. Similarly, the forming groove 93 on the convex forming die 90 of the crimping die I8 cooperates with a corresponding ridge 92 on the convex portion SI of the crimping die 19. In each of the crimping dies I8 and It, the concave and convex forming dies II andtlareioinedbyawebusothatthstwo forming dies which constitute a part of the crimping die will move together.

In each of the crimping dies IO and II, there is provided an aperture II, which extends through the web portion 04 and the portions of the crimping die beneath the concave and convex formingportions thereof. The aperture II, as shown most clearly in Fig. 6, is reduced in size, as shown at it. to receive the shank ll of a plunger OI. A socket I! is formed in each of the crimping dies II and TI to receive the enlarged portion of the plunger SI and a compression spring I" is interposed between the enlarged portion of the plunger .0 and a shoulder III. which is formed at the place where the aperture II is reduced in size. This compression spring I" encircles the shank 21 of the plunger and normally urges the plunger into its socket 2!. It will be understood that there aretwo of these plungers urging the crimping dies ll and I8 into engagement with the rollers II and II. In order to simplify the assembling of the crimping dies I8 and II, the shank ll of the plunger 98 is threaded to receive a lock nut assembly I02, which will limit the movement of the plunger 88 under the action of the spring I".

In addition to supporting the crimping dies 18' and ID, the slldable supporting plate II also supports a pair of channel-shaped guides Ill and I04, which serve to guide the core unit 41 into position between the tapes or ribbons 42, which, before their entrance into position between the crimping dies I8 and 19, have been formed to concavo-convex shape, as shown in Fig. 6.

The slldable support plate 41 is slldable in ways formed by cooperating surfaces III and III formed on the bearing plates I4 and N, and by retainer plates H2 and III, suitably fixed to the upper surfaces of the bearing plates I4 and I5, whereby the slldable support plate will travel with the core unit 41 during the crimping of the tapes 42 under the action of the cam drum .2 on cam roller 55. In this manner, the crimped tapes will be fed over the tape-guiding assembly I2, which serves to support the tapes in position to enclose the core unit 41. After the tapes and core unit pass over the tape-guiding assembly IS, the crimped tapes will be engaged by guide rollers H4 and III, which have grooves II and III formed in them to guide the tapes into association with the core unit.

After passing the rollers I I4 and I II, which are freely rotatable in the guide roller support I4, the tapes 42 will pass through the bearing support I! on which there is rotatably mounted a hub III having an annular sprocket III encircling it for engagement with the chain 2|. The hub Ill carries a pad supporting bracket I20, on which there is mounted a pair of pad supports I2I and I22, the angularity of which, with respect to the core unit and its enclosing tapes, may be adjusted to determine the angle at which armor tapes I22 and I24 may be fed from reels or tape pads I25 and I28. Extending outwardly from the bracket I2! is a guide sleeve I21 carrying guide dies I28 and I29, which direct the armor tapes I22 and I24 into engagement with the crimped tapes 42. After the armor tapes I22 and I24 are thus applied to the assembled crimped tapes 42 and the core unit 41, the tape-covered coaxial cable thus formed may be wrapped several times around the capstan 20 and then fed to any suitable reel or other support.

A more complete understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the following brief description of the mode of operation thereto crimp the tapes therebetween when the supof. After the core unit 41, comprising the discs or insulators 49 and wire 48, has been formed in any suitable manner, it may be directed between the pads 4|, through the channel-shaped guides I03 and I04 and thence between the guide rollers II 4 and IIS and the sleeve IZ'I simultaneously with the feeding of tapes 42 from the pads 4| through the crimping die assembly I2. After the apparatus has been loaded and the operation thereof is started, the capstan 30 will draw the cable through the apparatus, assisted by the driven rollers 45 and their cooperating idler rollers 46. In being drawn through the forming dies 44, the tapes will be formed to concavo-convex configuration and will then be directed to the crimping die assembly I2, which, in each cycle of rotation of the drum 52, will cause the slidable supporting plate 61 to be advanced to the right (Fig. '7) and then retracted to the position shown. As the slidable supporting plate 61 moves to the right (Fig. '7), the bell crank levers. 69 and II will be rocked about their pivots, as shown as 12 and I3, and will move the crimping dies I8 and I9 toward each other to crimp the tapes 42 as shown at I35. In performing this crimping action, the ridge 92 on crimping die I8 will cooperate with groove 93 on crimping die 19 and the ridge 92 on crimping die 19 will cooperate with the groove 93 on crimping die I8. The movement of the crimping dies toward each other will compress the springs I to clamp the tapes 42 between the crimping dies and effect the forming thereof as the support 61 moves together with the tapes 42. As soon as the crimping operation is completed, the bell crank levers 69 and II will be returned to their normal position, as shown in Fig. 3, and the support plate 61 will be returned to the position shown due to the configuration of the cam grooves 63 and 64. After the tapes 42 have been crimped, they will be guided together by the guide rollers H4 and H and then will be fed through the sleeve I21 and will have the armor tapes I23 and I24 wrapp d spirally around them to retain them in position.

What is claimed is:

1. In an article forming apparatus, means for advancing continuously a cable core along a predetermined path, means for advancing a pair of conductive tapes continuously along opposite sides of the predetermined path, means for forming into concavo-convex sections said pair of conductive tapes as the tapes are advanced by the tape advancing means, a support reciprocable along a line parallel to the predetermined path, a cam-follower secured to the support, a cam for actuating the cam follower to reciprocate the support, a pair of convex dies slidably secured to the support, a pair of concave dies secured to the support and slidable directly transversely to the'line of reciprocation of'the support for cooperating with the convex dies to crimp the tapes therebetween, means associated with the cam for moving the convex and the concave dies into operative engagement with each other all port is moved in the direction the tapes are advanced, means for separating the convex and the concave dies while the support is moved in the direction of movement of the tapes, means for guiding the crimped portions of the tape into association with the cable core, and means for serving tapes around the crimped portions of the first-mentioned tapes after the latter have been guided into association with the cable core.

2. An article forming apparatus, which comprises a male forming die, a female forming die, means for connecting the male forming die rigidly to the female forming die in positions in which they face the same direction, a second male forming die complementary to the female forming die, a second female forming die complementary to the first male forming die, a second connecting means for connecting the second male forming die rigidly to the second female forming die in positions in which they face the same direction,

means for mounting the dies in positions in which the male forming dies face the female forming dies, means for slidably supporting the dies and the conecting means, and means for effecting closing movement of the dies, whereby two tapes positioned between the dies may be crimped simultaneously.

3. An article forming apparatus, which comprises a member having a male forming die formed on one endthereof and a female forming die formed on the other end thereof, said dies facing in the same direction and being offset laterally from each other, a second member having a female forming die complementary to the male forming die and formed on one end thereof and a male forming die complementary to the female forming die of the first member and formed on the other end thereof, said dies of the second member facing in the same direction and being offset laterally from each other, means for slidably mounting said members in opposed positions, and means for effecting relative movementbetween said members to move the male forming dies into forming engagement with the female forming dies.

ALEXANDER LOGAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,651,024 Hart Nov. 29, 1927 2,172,945 Seeley Sept. 12, 1939 2,177,104 Gonser Oct. 24, 1939 2,210,400 Fischer Aug. 6, 1940- 2,213,703 Henning Sept. 2, 1940 2,222,842 Humphrey Nov. 26, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 507,909 Great Britain June 19, 1939 512,866 Great Britain Sept. 27, 1939 552,392 Great Britain Apr. 6, 1943 623,124 Germany Dec. 13,1935 

